Band for garments



March 30, 1948. H. HARDIE 2,433,304

am) FOR GMNTS ATT Y Patented Mar. 30, 1948 BAND FOR GARIHENTS Harry Hardie, Baltimore, Md., assignor to The Nobelt Company, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application October 20, 1945, Serial No. 623,497

3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates particularly to wearing apparel and more especially to an elastic band comprising a waistband for supporting a garment.

The present invention is an improvement upon the elastic band disclosed and claimed in the patent to Hargreaves 1,873,583 patented August 23, 1932.

In the Hargreaves patent the band comprises a sheath of textile material folded around a rubber strip with the edge of the garment inserted within the fold of the sheath and stretchable stitching passing through all of the several elements of the band. In this construction the rubber strip is on the face of the garment and the folding of the sheath material around the rubber strip requires careful attention of the operator in order to produce a satisfactory fold. This slows up manufacture and requires exactness in the width dimensions of the strip of rubber and the sheath. Furthermore, with the elastic strip on the face of the garment the upper edge of the garment becomes bulky and heavy in appearance.

In the present invention a slight hem is formed on the sheath on the face side of the garment and then the sheath is carried over the upper edge of the garment with the rubber strip between the upper edge of the garment and the back or inner side of the sheath and with stretchable stitching comprising preferagly a pair of marginal rows of stitches connected on one face by cross threads in such manner as to comprise stretchable stitching and whereby the cross threads are a covering means for the edge of the sheath. In this construction it would be observed that only one row of stitches perforates the lower edge of the rubber strip. This adds to the life of the rubber strip since only one row of perforations occurs in the strip. It also will be observed that there is no intricate delicate fold of the edge of the sheath around the edge of the rubber, so that this troublesome operation during manufacture is completely avoided. The lower edge of the rubber strip is substantially coincident with the lower edge of the inner side of the sheath.

Fig. 1 of the drawings illustrates the back portion of a, garment with a waistband in accordance with the present invention and with portions broken away to show the construction.

Fig. 2 illustrates the face of the garment with a portion of the waistband broken away.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig, 2.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper portion of the body of the garment I extends into a sheath 2, the front or outer side edge of which is provided with a hem 4 and the sheath is folded over the upper edge of the earment to comprise a back or inner side 5 for the garment. This side 5 is unhemmed. A strip of elastic sheet rubber 6 extends between the unhemmed inner side 5 and the upper portion 1 of the body of the garment I. A double-row stitch 8 having a, transverse thread 9 extending on the inner side between the rows of stitches l0 and II is preferably arranged in such manner that the upper row of stitches i0 extends through both sides of the hem 4 of the sheath 2, the upper edge of the garment I, the lower edge of the strip of rubber 6, and the unhemmed inner side 5 of the sheath 2; while the other row of stitches ll preferably extends only through the upper portion I of the garment and the hem 4 of the sheath 2; while the transverse thread 9 extending between the stitches i0 and I l acts as a cover thread for the unhemmed edge of the inner side 5 of the sheath 2. In this way the face of the garment becomes a relatively smooth surface and on the inner side of the garment the threads 9 are so arranged as to providea relatively smooth transition portion between the sheath and the body of the garment itself.

Preferably the garment material and the sheath are made of stretchable textile fabric; however, non-stretchable materials may be used in this construction and where such non-stretchable materials are used, then it becomes necessary to shir the material. This may be done in different ways which are well-known in the art. For example, the shirring may be done mechanically during the sewing of the parts together or the strip of sheet rubber may be sewed under tension with the non-elastic materials flat, and when the rubber is permitted to contract the parts are automatically shirred so that the waistband becomes extensible in use the same as if the materials were elastic.

The present invention provides a construction which is economical to manufacture and which has a pleasing and finished appearance.

What I claim is:

'1. An elastic band for a garment, comprising: a U.-shaped sheath astride of an edge zone of the garment, the leg of the sheath which is on the inside of the garment having an unhemmed edge and the leg of the sheath which is'on the outside of the garment being provided with an inturned hem lying directly against the outer 3. face of the edge zone of the garment. a strip of thin elastic sheet-rubber lying against the inner face of the edge zone of the garment, and first and second longitudinally-extensible rows of:

stitches extending through the body of the garment and the adjacent parts of said band with covering thread on the inside of the garment extending between said rows of stitches, the first row of stitches passing through the strip of rubber and the second row of stitches being spaced from said strip of rubber, and the covering thread overlying said unhemmed edge of the sheath and protecting it from fraying and holding it flat against said sheet of rubber.

2. An elastic waistband for a garment, comprising: a strip of thin elastic sheet-rubber lying against the inner face of the garment in a zone adjacent to the upper edge thereof, an inverted U-shaped sheath of fabric positioned astride of the top portion of the garment, the leg of the sheath which is on the inside of the garment overlying said strip of rubber and terminating closely adjacent to the lower edge thereof, and the leg of the sheath which is on the outside of the garment lying against the outer face of the garment and extending at least as far as the lower edge of the strip of rubber, a longitudinally-extensible row of stitches passing through the garment above the lower edge of the strip 1 of rubber, said stitches also passing through the strip of rubber and both legs of the sheath, a second longitudinally-extensible row of stitches passing through the garment below the lower edge of the strip of rubber, and means for preventing fraying of the lower edges of the sheath when the same is made from a strip of fabric having raw edges, the means for that lower edge of the sheath which is on the inside of the garment being cover thread extending between said two rows of stitches, the cover thread extending 40 4 overrand holding down the lower edge of the sheath which is on the inside of the garment.

3. An elastic band for a garment, comprising: a strip of thin elastic sheet-rubber lying against one face of the garment in an edge zone thereof, a U-shaped sheath of fabric positioned astride of said edgezone of the garment, the leg of the sheath which is on one side of the garment overying said strip of rubber and terminating closely adjacent to the far edge thereof and the leg of the sheath which is on the other side of the garment lying against the face of the garment and extending at least as far as the first-mentioned leg, 9. longitudinally-extensible row of stitches passing through the garment and also thmugh the strip of rubber and both legs of the sheath,

a second longitudinally-extensible row of stitches passing through the garment-beyond the edge of the strip of rubber, and means for preventing fraying of the terminal edges of the sheath when the same is made from a strip of fabric having raw edges, the means for one terminal edge of the sheath being cover thread extending between said two rows of stitches, the cover thread extending over and holding down the edge of the sheath.

HARRY HARDIE.

REFERENCES CITED file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS I Number Name Date a 35 1,873,583 Hargreaves Aug. 23, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 454,153 Great Britain Sept. 21, 1936 

